Mar. 20, 2014

A nationwide manhunt ended Nov. 29, 2011, when the San Diego Fugitive Task Force arrested Arthur Morgan III, wanted on charges surrounding the death of his daughter, Tierra Morgan-Glover. / Photo COURTESY of U.S. MARSHALS

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FREEHOLD — In the months leading up to the death of his toddler daughter, Arthur Morgan III had visions of his family living together, his girlfriend staying home to take care of their baby, and him supporting the family, according to a co-worker who worked alongside him for six months.

The problem was, Morgan, who was homeless, would get paid on Tuesdays and be broke by Friday, and he wasn’t spending his money on his family, said Tulio Bazan, who worked alongside Morgan as a machine operator at Creative Building Supplies in Lakewood in 2011.

Morgan, now 29, was fired Nov. 15, 2011, six days before he picked up his 2½-year-old daughter, Tierra Morgan-Glover, from her mother in Lakehurst for a visit. Prosecutors charge he then brought the child to Shark River Park in Wall, strapped her into a car safety seat, weighed down the seat by tethering a metal car jack to it, and then threw the contraption off a bridge and into a creek. His murder trial began last week.

“He liked to spend his money on clothes,” Bazan testified at Morgan’s trial. “He showed me the Gucci sunglasses, a wallet, Gucci, and the shoes, Gucci.”

The Gucci wallet cost $400, or almost a week’s pay, Bazan said Morgan told him. Bazan said he figured the other items cost just as much.

Arguments with Tierra's mother

Morgan spent most of his time on the phone, fighting with the baby’s mother, Imani Benton, Bazan said. The arguments, except for one, were not over Morgan being able to see Tierra, Bazan testified. Instead, they were about Morgan trying to control the child’s mother.

“He told me his girlfriend wanted to work and his girlfriend wanted to go to school,” but Morgan wouldn’t let her, saying he wanted to support her, Bazan testified.

“I told him, ‘You want this, Artie, but you cash your check on Tuesday, and Friday, you have no money. How will you support them?’ ” Bazan said. “ ‘How will you get your family back if you spend your money?’ ”

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Morgan already had split up with Benton by the time Bazan started working with him in May 2011, Bazan said.

Morgan told Bazan he was going to court to get full custody of Tierra. But Bazan told him, “Artie, no judge in the world will ever give you custody of a child, because you’re living in a car,” Bazan testified.

Morgan was fired from the job he had held for almost a year because he was habitually late and talked on the phone when he was supposed to be working, Dale Hugo, general manager of Creative Building Supplies, told the jury.

Morgan’s lawyer has not denied Morgan put his daughter in the creek, but says Morgan, troubled by the loss of his job and homelessness, put her there alive to let God decide her fate, rather than throwing her off the bridge, as prosecutors say.

Within hours of the act, Morgan was seen making his way to Newark Penn Station, where he talked his way onto a bus bound for Richmond, Va., without a ticket, according to testimony of other witnesses on Wednesday, some of whom told the jury that Morgan’s demeanor was normal and polite.

Just before 8 p.m. on Nov. 21, 2011, Morgan was seen getting off an NJ Transit train from Asbury Park to change trains in Long Branch for a northbound train to Newark, according to testimony from NJ Transit Police Sgt. John Sullivan.

After the train pulled into Newark Penn Station at 9:16 p.m., Morgan is seen making a purchase at a liquor store in the station before heading to the Greyhound bus terminal outside, according to slides obtained from video surveillance at the station that Sullivan reviewed and narrated for the jurors.

Talking his way onto a bus to Richmond

Lupe testified that the man, identified as Morgan on the videotape, approached him that night and told him he wanted to take a bus to Richmond, Va., and from there, he planned to head to San Diego. Lupe noted it was Thanksgiving week and told the man all of the buses were sold out, he testified.

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Lupe said he suggested that Morgan wait for a Richmond-bound bus that was due from New York after 10 p.m. to see if there were any empty seats on it.

When that bus pulled into Newark Penn Station, Morgan approached the bus driver. He explained he had arrived at the bus station after it had closed, so he was unable to get a ticket, but he wanted to get on it anyway, Richard Lee Brockwell Jr., the regular bus driver on the Greyhound route from New York to Richmond, testified.

Brockwell said he told Morgan he would see if there were any extra seats on the bus after he had loaded on the people who had tickets. Then he forgot about Morgan until a homeless man who frequents the bus station reminded Brockwell about him, Brockwell said.

The homeless man knocked on the bus door as Brockwell was about to pull out and said, “You gonna take this guy who doesn’t have a ticket?” Brockwell testified.

The bus driver said he had some empty seats, and for Morgan to get on, he said.

The bus pulled out of the terminal with Morgan on it just before 10:15 p.m., Sullivan testified.

Morgan got off the bus when it reached Richmond about 4:20 a.m. the next day, Brockwell said.

“He was very polite, normal,” Brockwell said of Morgan when questioned about his demeanor. “There was nothing unusual about him.”

Morgan was captured in San Diego a week later, following a nationwide manhunt.